Russian gas supply to Europe via Ukraine halted after deal expires

Photo: Reuters

Russia’s natural gas exports to several European countries have been cut off after Ukraine refused to renew a gas transit deal that expired on Wednesday. Ukraine has clarified that it would not extend the five-year deal due to the ongoing war with Russia.

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Ukraine’s Energy Minister, German Galushchenko, called this a “historic event” and said, “We stopped the transit of Russian gas. Russia is losing its markets, and it will face financial losses. Europe has already decided to stop using Russian gas.” His statement reflects the serious impact this will have on both Russia and Europe.
Russia’s state-owned energy company, Gazprom, confirmed that gas exports to Europe had been stopped at 8 a.m. Moscow time (05:00 GMT) because the transit deal expired. Gazprom added that starting from January 1, 2025, they no longer have the legal and technical ability to send gas through Ukraine.

Ukraine has been sending Russian gas through its country to several European nations like Slovakia, Moldova, and Hungary. The stop of this gas flow is a big change for Europe, especially for countries like Moldova, which is already dealing with challenges from Russian-backed separatists.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has criticized the European Union for its support of Ukraine, had gone to Moscow last week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had expected this cut in gas flow and said that Slovakia might take action against Ukraine. For example, Slovakia could stop providing backup electricity to Ukraine. Fico wrote a letter to Brussels, calling Ukraine’s decision “irrational and wrong,” warning that it would cause serious financial problems for Slovakia.

The biggest challenge is in Moldova, which shares a border with Ukraine. Moldova has already declared a 60-day state of emergency in preparation for Ukraine’s move. The country is in a difficult situation, facing both the loss of gas and the ongoing conflict with separatists supported by Russia.

This shutdown of the gas route marks the end of a long and difficult relationship between Russia and Ukraine, which worsened after Russia took control of Crimea in 2014. Since the war between Russia and Ukraine began in 2022, the European Union has worked hard to reduce its dependence on Russian energy sources, looking for other ways to meet its energy needs.

While the gas flow through Ukraine has stopped, Russia still sends gas to Europe via the TurkStream pipeline, which runs under the Black Sea. Hungary, a country that has stayed friendly with Russia, gets most of its Russian gas from this pipeline, so Hungary will not be heavily affected by Ukraine’s decision to halt the gas transit.
This is a crucial moment for both Russia and Europe, and the countries involved will need to find new ways to handle the changes caused by the end of this transit deal.